This One Time At Band Camp

Chapter 43

The next day, Julia came over to my house around three to start getting ready for the dance. it seemed a little much to me(considering the dance doesn't start until 7:30) but Amanda explained to me that so much has to be put into a dance.

Nails must be done and hair must be did. Makeup must be put on and accessories must be chosen. Skin needs lotion. Teeth need whitening. Pictures must be taken. Food must be Eaten. Then and only then can you go to the dance.

This all still seemed like overdoing it a bit, but Izzy and Amanda were far too willing to come and help us. They actually managed to make the day really fun.

The four of us went to a nail salon and got manicures and pedicures. I was afraid it would be weird having people touching my hands and feet (it was ) but I actually sort of enjoyed it too.

The next stop was the hair dresser. Julia got a new weave for the night and I just got my hair curled into an up-do. I've never had my hair done and am in no rush to do it again soon. I hate having to sit so still for so long, but it really does look nice.

The four of us then go return back to my house. Julia and I allow our sisters to treat us like Barbie dolls and they do our makeup. When Amanda does mine, I honestly don't recognize myself anymore. Instead, there's just a beautiful girl sitting on my bed that sort of bears a resemblance to me.

Last but not least, I finally slip on my dress and Amanda jacks me up with jewelry. I look absolutely stunning, as does Julia. I can't believe that it took so much work to get ready for a stupid dance, but I really hope it's worth it.

The two of us head to the back porch and wait for our dates to arrive. (Julia was going with some kid from our class name Ryan)

Izzy emerges from the house with some sort of flower in a box and hands it to Julia. Shortly after, Amanda emerges as well with a frantic look on her face. "Zoey, I can't find the boutonnière you got for Noah. Where is it?"

I give her a strange look. "I didn't get him anything. What's a boutonnière?"

Amanda's eyes widen. "Omg Zoey! you ignorant are you? I'm gonna run up to the flower shop really quick and by one. Shouldn't take long. Just stall for me!" she runs out the door to her car and drives away.

"I'm I still don't know what a boutonnière is," I say looking at Julia.

"This is a boutonnière," Julia says, lifting the flower in a box. "It's this thing a girl gives to a boy an he pins it to himself for nice occasions like dances. It's customary. And then boy brings the girl a corsage that she usually wears on her wrist."

"Oh. Okay. How was I supposed to know?" I say feeling a little down.

"Relax, it's not your fault," Izzy says. "Everybody forgets about these they're first few times, especially the guys."

I smile and cheer up a it at that.

Soon enough, Amanda returns with the flower and says we should start talking pictures of us. So Julia and I start making poses and smiling all around our garden.

In the middle of this our dates arrive. They look pretty sharp. Noah's haw drops when he sees me. "Wow Zoey, you look absolutely gorgeous!

I blush and shy away. "Thanks Noah. you look really good too. "He leans in and kisses my cheek.

He hands me a box with a flower in it. "Wanna trade?"

I laugh. "Sure." Amanda take a pictures of us as we attach the flowers to each other. Then more photos follow of the whole group now that the dates are here.

Afterwards, the four of us pile in noah's van and drive to Olive Garden. We fill up on pasta, salad and breadsticks before finally heading for the dance.

We're running a little late, so the gym is already full of people. Music is blasting, lights are flashing, sluts are grinding. Nothing out of the ordinary here. It's the typical high school dance everybody hears about.

We shake our grove things for a couple hours with the occasional slow dance here and there.

We create what seemed a lot like the tunnel during pre-game for the homecoming court to walk through. After the walk through, two seniors are declared king and queen.

They then are to share a dance. The song "I don't want to miss a thing" my Aerosmith comes on. Noah turns to me and holds out a hand. "May I have this dance?"

I smile and take his hand as he leads me back into the dance floor. He holds me close as we away back and forth to the music (I'm thankful he's a band kid and keep time. I don't know how on earth some of those couples can handling swaying out of time like that. Have you no rhythm?). I tuck my head in his shoulder so he can't see me blush.

"You look so beautiful tonight," he whispers in my ear. "I'm so very lucky to have you. "

I smile and try and think of something to say, but I'm speechless. We dance the to the song in silence for awhile, but then I finally think of something to say. "Penny for your thoughts."

I lift my head and look into his eyes while I await his response. "You really want to know what I'm thinking about?" I nod my head. "I'm thinking about how this one time at band camp, I saw the most amazing girl in the world and fell head over heels in love with her. And now here I am, dancing with her on what is the most amazing night of my life. I'm thinking all my dreams are finally coming true."

I start to cry a little because that is honestly the most romantic, sweetest thing I've ever heard. I'm not a huge fan of PDA, hut at that exact moment, I really don't care. I lean up and kiss him for what seems like hours. Maybe it even was. By the time we were done, the dance was beginning to come to an end.

We headed back to the car together (without Julia and Ryan since they had a different ride home). We sit in the car and turn in some old fashioned love songs.

Noah drives us home, but takes us to an empty parking lot on a detour. He parks the car, but leaves the engine on.

He picks up his iPod and chooses a song. "Miss Zoey, I do believe I need one more dance tonight. May I?"

I smile and get out of the car. A song called "unchained melody" comes over his car speakers and he turns it up. We stand there in the parking lot for almost an hour just dancing to this song on loop.

This continued until the cops found us and told us we had to go home now. We got back into the car and drove home. Tonight was absolutely wonderful, magical even. And here I thought this kind of thing only happened in fairytales, but I was more than happy to be wrong. :)